The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 67, No. 31, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 10, 1980 Page: 2 of 16
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Incomplete schedules
The recently-released Course Offering schedules saved the
University about $8,000 and, with the conversion to a computerized
data base, are a good move towards a more useful and up-to-date
publication. However, the absence of the course descriptions
customarily provided in the old book format seriously reduces the
usefulness of the new publication.
Rice's new Registrar, John Brelsford—who put a great deal of
personal time into this guide (see story, page 7)—said yesterday that he
didn t feel the absence of the course descriptions was a critical matter.
Unfortunately this is not the case. Blue books served the
important function of providing in one place "the menu" of
courses offered. One of the best ways to turn up a course totally off
one's beaten major track has been always to flip through the blue book
looking for something interesting and unusual.
Adding this information to the new format schedules is quite
possible, according to Dr. Brelsford, but it will increase the cost,
something he says he is reluctant to do unless he is convinced the
students really want to see the change.
Brelsford deserves praise for his selfless overtime contributions to
this project and for saving $8,000 with his changes, but he must make
sure that the course descriptions find their way back into future
versions of the schedules. j\jatt Muller
Revenge at Baylor
Several weeks ago, Baylor University's administrators fired three
editors of the Lariat, that school's student newspaper, for daring to
suggest that Baylor women should make up their own minds about
posing nude for Playboy magazine.
Baylor's actions were totally legal—and thoroughly improper. In
one fell swoop, that school both denied that it had any place for a real
student newspaper, and seriously reduced the credibility of Baylor's
journalism department, which operates the Lariat as a lab paper
where student journalists are supposed to gain experience in writing—
not in being censored.
Since then, matters have taken a turn for the worse. A week ago
yesterday, Baylor revoked the scholarships of two of its fired editors,
as well as the scholarship of someone only tangentially involved in the
case, and then went on to suggest to all three that they "find another
university." These actions had to have been approved by Baylor's
president, Abner McCall, but they may be traced to Loyal Gould, the
chairman of Baylor's journalism department, a former AP and NBC
newsman—and a man who apparently nurses his grudges well.
It's hard to see how Baylor University will gain anything by this
iatest move, except providing the sour satisfaction of personal revenge
for some of its faculty and administrators. All three students will quite
likely be back at Baylor next fall, so the school has hardly succeeded in
getting rid of its "troublemakers."
What Baylor may have succeeded in ridding itself of is the
reputation of having a comparatively good journalism department,
which tried to mold students into inquisitive reporters willing to ask
the right questions. By narrowly defining just what questions may be
asked—and how they may be answered in print—Baylor's
administrators may have preserved the insularity of their campus, but
they are doing the journalistic business no service at all.
No, strike that. Perhaps they're proving that a formal training in the
five W's for four years isn't really needed to mine the truth and bring it
to light. After all, without sounding too arrogant,we've managed to
run this paper for 64 years without benefit of clergy. And the respected
Daily Texan—probably the best state college daily in the country—
just saw a liberal arts, "Plan II" major picked over two J-school types
to serve as editor next year.
The real shame of the whole matter is that those students who were
able to take pride in being Baylor journalists now have had their
leaders—Gould and McCall—held up to national ridicule, and their
students ex-editors elevated to the Media Martyr Hall of Fame. And if
those students still choose to remain at Baylor, they will have to work
under the burden of keeping their minds on a short leash—which
would seem to be the precise opposite of what a university, even a
Baptist university, ought to encourage in its students.
—Matt Muller and David Butler
THRESHING-IT-OUT
Baker says he was mis-
quoted about tuition
To the editor:
The introduction to a published
interview with me (Thresher,
March 27, 1980) claims that I
stated at a recent faculty meeting
that "tution at Rice should rise to
at least $4000 next year to allow
increases in faculty salaries." I said
that neither in the faculty meeting
nor in the interview. While I do
advocate an increase in tuition, 1
recognize that next year's tuition is
already set and that, in any case, it
is unrealistic to try to make an
upward correction in only one year
of the size that is eventually
needed.
But my position is mis-
represented by the quotation
BEYOND THE HEDGES/by David Butler and Karen Strecker
above in a more serious way
because I do not favor the
allocation of tuition income to
salaries. I may feel that it is ironic,
inappropriate, or even unwise for
tuition to be going down at the
same time salaries are dropping,
but the issues of salaries and
tuition are distinct—a distinction
which may be subtle to some but
nontheless real. Rice needs more
money to do many worthwhile
things, one of which is to raise
salaries; and Rice should be
allocating to salaries more of its
resources, of which the income
from tuition is only one part. In
short: (1) salaries should go up
whether or not tuition goes up,
and (2) tuition should go up
whether or not salaries go
up. Stephen D. Baker
Physics Department
The Rice Thresher, April 10,1980, page 2
Lariat controversy
drags on and on
In the latest round of the
continuing controversy over
Baylor University's beleagured
Lariat, three students—including
former editor Jeff Barton—have
had their journalism scholarships
revoked, and have been "strongly
urged" to attend other schools next
fall.
Barton, former news editor
Cyndy Slovak, and Sherri
Sellmeyer, president of Baylor's
chapter of the Society of
Professional Journalists (Sigma
Delta Chi), were informed by
journalism chairmal Loyal Gould
that their scholarships would not
be renewed. Baylor, which has one
of the largest scholarship
programs of any private college in
the country, distributes between
$50-60,000 annually. But Baylor
executive VP Herbert H. Reynolds
stated that "since our resources are
limited, we decided to provide
scholarships to students who hold
a more favorable view of the
school." Publications advisor
Ralph Strother concurred, saying
that priority be given to
students who support Baylor
University."
(Barton and Slovak, you may
recall, supported the right of
Baylor women to pose for Playboy
photographer David Chan when
he came to Waco—an opinion
contrary to school president Abner
McCall's position. When McCall
imposed strict new editorial
guidelines on the Lariat, Sellmeyer
canceled the SDX "press day" for
high school journalists in protest.)
Barton blasted Gould's
revocation of their scholarships as
"blatant vindictiveness" stemming
from a "McCarthyism mentality."
Journalism professor Donald
Williams, who was fired after he
supported Barton and his
colleagues, called the scholarship
maneuver "utterly contemptible"
and urged that all students transfer
out of the department.
The issue, it seems, has finally
reached national attention:
Newsweek featured an account of
the Baylor mess in its legal section
this week, noting that the school
administrators apparently have
carte blanche in this matter since
Baylor, as a private school, does
not have to practice the First
Amendment any more than it
wants to.
And Baylor is back to normal,
more or less—although new city
editor Jim Bridges told the Texas
A&M Battalion that the third
paper under new editors was
sabotaged when "someone issued
an underground bogus Lariat.
They used fake campus
advertisements; they wrote false
stories using the names of people
on our staff. They also stole copies
of the real Lariat which we had put
out and replaced them with the
fakes." Barton strongly denied that
he or his colleagues were
responsible for the fake edition.
And the annual Baylor Beauty
Style Show went off without a
hitch earlier this week, as the
Kappa Kappa Gammas and the
Round Up yearbook sponsored
the competition to-,select the eight
outstanding campus cuties. And
no, David Chan was not invited
back for the bathing suit
competition.
A&M Senators set up
laundry for funds
Texas A&M's student senate is
in the middle of an apparent
"money-laundering" scheme which
will channel $100,000 to the Aggie
womens' athletic program—but
without indicating clearly where
the money's coming from. And
since the funds were appropriated
in a closed session of the senate,
further clarifications have been
slow to develop.
The case apparently began when
the A&M athletic department
informed the university
administration that implementing
Title IX equal opportunity
guidelines would force the
department approximately
$150,000 into the red. The athletic
department was told that it would
have to come up with one-third of
the deficit on its own, but that the
other $100,000 would come from
"other sources."
Those "other sources" appear to
be campus bookstore profits,
funnelled through the student
service fee budget. (Each Aggie
pays $33.50 in blanket taxes for a
variety of benefits.) Student vice-
president for finance George Black
introduced the "laundry" bill to the
student senate, which approved
the $100,000 expenditure in closed
session. Roy Bragg, editor of the
A&M Battalion, has been
unsuccessful so far in attempts to
obtain records of the meeting, or
challenge the closed session under
the Texas Open Meetings Act.
Reasons for the fund shunt
through the student services
account are still unclear, but A&M
president Jarvis Miller claims the
tactic is designed "to maintain
some political leverage" against
the Department of Health,
Education and Welfare in the Title
IX case. Miller's plan, apparently,
is to require HEW to file suit
against "30,000 students and their
parents as opposed to one
administration," as he puts it.
While Miller is convinced that
A&M is in compliance with Title
IX, he declared that "we're trying
to keep our options open in dealing
with a problem that may or may
not arise in the future."
MATTHEW MULLER
Editor
„ JAY OLIPHANT
lUDCwLJCD Business Manager
Richard Dees. Managing Editor
Carole Valentine Advertising Manager
Rolf Asphaug News Editor
Wayne Derrick Photography Editor
Franz Brotzen Fine Arts Editor
Steve Bailey Sports Editor
Bob Schwartz Back Page Editor
David Butler Senior Editor
Assistant Editors Amy Grossman, Geri Snider,
Anita Gonzalez, Andy Hathcock, John VanderPut, Laura Rohwcr
News Staff. .. Allison Foil, Michael Trachtenberg,
Carl Winstead, Kathy Mitchell, Pam Pearson, Jay Barksdale, BilP Bonner,
Sarah Herbert. R.B. Johnson, Lela Smith, Jay Barksdale, Linda Bosse,
Chaz Wa,rrnold Fnpne Oomark. Auvusta Barone. Ron Stutes,
Karen Strecker, Dorothy Willis, Ken Klein, Russ Coleman, Robin Baringer
Fine Arts Staff ... . Steve 5aiier, Gary Cole,
Jim Fowler, Nicole Van Den Heuvel, Scott Solis, Carol Owen, Thomas Peck,
Thorn Glidden, Gaye Gilbert, Amanda Lewis, Mehran Gouran,
John Heaner, M. Bradford Moody
Sports Staff.. .. ••••••. Duane Berry, Donald Buckholt,
Michelle Gillespie, Norma Gonzales, Jean Hobart, Ken Klein. Cindy McCabe
_ . Tami Ragosin, Byron Welch. Rich Whitney. Alison F. Whittemorc
Science Staff •••"••." w Sue Taylor, Joel Brazeale,
Bob Skocpol, Debbie Wenkert, Margaret Schauerte, Greg Greenwell, Owen Wilson
Photography Staff jay Bauerle, Robert Bohrer,
Buster Brown, T.W Cook, Bruce Davies, Dingbat a.k,a. Michael Gladu, Janie Harrison ,
Bruce Ressier, Jeff McGee, Mike fcmith, Paul Williamson. Wunderwood
5*7 * •' " Harold Nelson
Production Staff Gaye Gilbert, Ann Betley,
Kelvin Thompson, Pam Pearson, Ruth Hillhouse, Vikki Kaplann, Ron Stutes,
. l-ori Husni, Mark Limmon, Dianne Frome
Circulation Rob Rogers, Vikki Kaplan, Charjean Heard
The Rice Thresher, the official student newspaper at Rice University since 1916, is published
weekly on Thursdays during the school year, except during examination periods and holidays
by the students of Rice University. Editorial and business offices are located on the second floor
of the Rice Memorial Center, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, TX 77001. Phone 527-4801 or 527-4802
Advertising information available upon request.Mail subscription rate: $15.00 per year The
opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of anyone except the writer
Obviously.
©Copyright 1980, The Rice Thresher. All rights reserved.
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Muller, Matthew. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 67, No. 31, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 10, 1980, newspaper, April 10, 1980; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245438/m1/2/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.